Texans' defense dominates, with Stingley, Anderson, and Hunter earning prestigious AP All-Pro nods for their elite 2025 season performances.
Throughout the 2025 NFL regular season, there has been one constant topic discussed on most sports shows, social media, barbershops, gyms, etc.: the Houston Texans have a good defense.
Wait.
Let me be clearer.
The Texans’ defense is excellent, and on Saturday, three starters from that unit were named to the 2025 NFL Associated Press All-Pro Team, including cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. (First Team), edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. (First Team), and edge rusher Danielle Hunter (Second Team). Stingley (2024) and Hunter (2018) are making their second appearances on the team, while this will be Anderson’s first selection.
It marked the first time the Texans had three players selected to the All-Pro team since 2016, when former defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and linebackers Whitney Mercilus and Benardrick McKinney were all selected to the second team.
Anderson and Stingley joined former Houston Texans defensive end and three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt as the only players in franchise history to be named to the First-Team All-Pro.
Stingley, who the Texans picked in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, also joined Watt, Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson, and former wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins as the only Texans players to be selected to the First-Team All-Pro in consecutive years.
It was another stellar performance by “All-Pro Sting,” as Stingley is commonly referred to by second-year players, cornerback Kamari Lassiter and safety Calen Bullock, who have been calling him by that name since their rookie seasons.
He was selected as an AFC Pro Bowl starter for the second consecutive year. He earned his third career AFC Defensive Player of the Week after his Week 16 performance against the Las Vegas Raiders, when he scored his first NFL touchdown on a 31-yard interception return.
In 540 snaps this season, the former LSU Tiger only allowed three touchdowns with 15 pass deflections and four interceptions.
According to Next Gen Stats, Stingley was targeted on just 8.5% of his coverage snaps in zone defense this season, the 6th-lowest rate among cornerbacks with at least 150 snaps in zone. His 37.9% completion percentage allowed when targeted in zone defense is the lowest mark by any defender since at least 2018 who was targeted at least 25 times.
Houston finished as the best defensive unit in 2025, leading the NFL in yards allowed per game (277.2) and finishing second in points allowed per game (17.2) behind the Seattle Seahawks (17.4). They gave up less than 200 passing yards (183.5) and 100 yards rushing (93.7) per game this season.
That success can largely be attributed to the disruptive duo of edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, who combined for 153 pressures, the most by any duo in the NFL this season.
They also combined for 27 sacks, 35 tackles for loss, and six forced fumbles. Anderson Jr. (12 sacks, 20 TFLs, 3 FF) and Danielle Hunter (15 sacks, 15 TFLs, 3 FF) helped the Texans finish with a 12-5 regular-season record that included a nine-game winning streak to end the season.
According to Next Gen Stats, they earned 52.4% of the Texans’ 292 total pressures by individual defenders this season, the 2nd-highest share by two players on any team since 2018, trailing only Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue on the 2021 Raiders (52.9%). No other duo this season produced more than 46.8% of their team’s pressures.
The AP team is chosen by a national panel of fifty NFL writers and broadcasters.